Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez: A Full Head-to-Toe Breakdown
Anthony Pettis defeated Benson Henderson to claim the UFC lightweight title in an impressive first-round submission victory in August 2013. He'll step in to defend his title on Dec. 6—462 days after he won the belt.
Gilbert Melendez defeated Diego Sanchez in what Joe Rogan immediately called the best fight he'd ever seen to reaffirm himself as the top title contender and secure his second opportunity at proving himself the planet's best fighter at 155 pounds. He'll meet Pettis on Dec. 6—413 days since he last stepped in the cage.
That's not exactly the sort of consistency you'd like to see from the two best fighters in the weight class, especially considering fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Donald Cerrone and Rafael dos Anjos have done just about everything and then some to earn their shot at UFC gold.
Thankfully, the complaints will come to a halt in just a few days as the champion makes his return to the cage.
Scroll on to see how we break down the co-main event to UFC 181.
Striking
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There's a reason why they call this guy "Showtime."
Sometimes, his highlight-reel strikes come in the form of an insane off-the-cage kick to his opponent's face. Other times, they come in the shape of a rare cartwheel kick. Whatever the method may be, Pettis often reminds spectators on why he chose to permanently ink his upper back.
Melendez is no slouch on the feet either, though. He's willing to stand in the pocket, tuck his chin and exchange punches until nobody in the arena has any inkling of what chairs are meant to do. He has solid boxing and enough of a chin to give Pettis some problems.
You have to admire a guy in Melendez, who's admittedly the type of fighter to take two punches just so he can land one, but he'd be wise to avoid any stand-up fight against the champion.
Edge: Pettis
Wrestling
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Pettis has only lost twice in his professional career.
The first one came at the hands of Bart Palaszewski and the WEC 45 ringside judges who awarded Palaszewski with the split-decision victory.
The second came five fights and one championship victory later when Pettis made his UFC debut against longtime veteran Clay Guida. The Carpenter's plan was relatively simple: take the WEC champion down and prevent him from creating any more Jean-Claude Van Damme highlights. Round after round, Guida found a way to get Pettis to the mat, effectively handing the UFC newcomer his second career loss and pushing him off his title-contending pedestal.
El Nino may not have any decorative Division I wrestling plaques on the walls of his Bay Area home, but he has enough of a wrestling pedigree to force the champion into fighting off his back much like Guida did at The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale.
It might be more difficult for Melendez to get Pettis to the ground in the early going, particularly because this is only his third fight inside of the UFC's 30-foot cage and closing the distance against such an elusive fighter isn't very easy when fatigue isn't a factor.
Edge: Melendez
Submissions
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Even without showcasing his flashy strikes and getting driven to the mat over and over again as he earned the "L" against Guida, Pettis showed UFC fans one positive aspect of his game: his knack for constantly working off of his back.
It was like clockwork: Guida moved forward, took Pettis down and avoided submission attempt after submission attempt en route to a unanimous-decision victory.
The champion is an undefeated 7-0 when it comes to submission-deciding outcomes, but only four of those can actually be considered grappling submissions as we've collectively come to know them (two are by way of punches and one was because of an injury to his opponent). Even then, his four true submission victories are pretty impressive in their own right.
The latest of the impressive bunch—and the only one that wasn't a triangle choke—came against former champion Benson Henderson. With just 19 seconds left in the first round of his second title fight against Henderson, Pettis managed to slap on an armbar that forced his opponent to verbally tap and relinquish the title.
Melendez, on the other hand, has zero true submissions in his storied career. Technically speaking, the challenger has one, but as we previously noted, making a dude tap because of strikes isn't the same as making a dude tap because he can't breathe.
Edge: Pettis
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X-Factors
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Melendez: Toughness and Championship Experience
Though it may be his own undoing in his latest title fight, Melendez's toughness isn't something any of us can merely glance over. The dude eats heavy punches just about as well as any lightweight is able to do—ever. Assuming he's willing to stick to his word and just go for it against the champ, Melendez might have the right formula to end the champion's reign earlier than anticipated.
But his toughness isn't the only thing we're looking at; Melendez also has more championship experience than the champ does—by far. El Nino has been in 10 title fights in the duration of his 12-year career. Six of those fights went the five-round distance.
Meanwhile, Pettis has only seen five full rounds once. Heck, he's only been past the second round six times in 19 fights as a pro. It might say more about Pettis' finishing ability, but you can bet that Melendez's ability to succeed in the twilight rounds of a title fight will play a factor.
Pettis: Unorthodox Striking and Ever Dangerous
Again, it wouldn't be right to call the guy Showtime if he wasn't the flashy, unorthodox fighter that he is. But he is as flashy as they come, so he gets to hold onto the nickname. He can switch his stance and repeatedly kick to his opponent's liver, much like he did in his last fight against Henderson. He can also use the cage as a springboard to knock his opponent down and forever cement his young legacy in the MMA world, much like he did in his first fight against Henderson.
This isn't the only reason Pettis poses so many problems, though. It's the idea that his opponents are never clear of any sort of danger—regardless of whether they're in Pettis' full guard or got him clinched up against the cage. That should scare any title challenger.
Prediction
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So, if you've followed this slideshow with any sort of consistency, you'll realize that Pettis had the advantage in two of the three categories—he's technically a better striker and realistically a much better submission artist.
Melendez, while a phenomenal fighter in his own right, only possesses the upper hand in one category: wrestling.
In a championship bout, it's easy to assume Melendez manages to get this fight to the ground at some point. Even then, he'll still have to be wary of the champion's offensive attack from the bottom—for five whole rounds.
The chances are Melendez's second attempt at joining UFC royalty will fall short again.
Prediction: Pettis wins via fourth-round submission
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University's student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
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